Hector is on vacation
The Köln Weinachtsmarkt has become a ritual way to end the longest of terms. A dash to Edinburgh Airport was required to catch the 17.10 flight to Köln-Bonn Flughafen. For reasons best know to Mr Stelios, this is the last time such a journey will be made on this route for the foreseeable. Five times this year Hector has made good use of this facility, so it is logical to dangle the prize in front of me then take it away.
The flight was on time, yeah, but then one encounters the bottleneck at the station under the Airport. Only two working ticket machines is not good enough, especially when most people do not know how they work. Even those who do have to press twenty on screen buttons to purchase the simplest of tickets.
For once Hector did not alig
ht at the Hauptbahnhof but cleverly stayed on to Hansaring and then dropped down to Christophstrasse U Bahn station. I was at Hotel Colonia over an hour after touchdown, this does not sound efficient. No longer does this hotel have Wi-Fi in the rooms, will this be my last visit?
By this time Jonathan had has his fill of Gluhwein and was waiting for Hector in the Restaurant at Früh am Dom.
Time for a Kölsch
Well this is what I had in mind, the Kobi had another. He refused to bring Bier until he had enough definite orders to fill his tray. This is not how it is done. There were gaps between Biers, in a Kölsch House?, unheard of! Still, in the brief moments when the test tubes were full, life was very pleasant indeed.
Olive and Maggie touched down and checked in to their exclusive hotel beside the Dom. We were soon united, however Steve and Juliet were still en route for their night in Weeze. Where does the time go? Mobile phones are wonderful, in the past one could have spent half an hour wandering around trying to find one’s friends. Some people we know would still spend an hour and a half trying to find the exit – true! In the past we would have rendezvoused in the Keller, but now we know the dreaded weed is permitted late on, we like to breath air. So it was time to decant to Gaffel am Dom where a party was in full swing. The place was stowed. Rather than look for a table we took a standing table at the doorway. Service here was excellent. There was time to admire the old Bier adverts which adorned the walls. There has not been a huge change made to the venue since it was re-badged from the Alt Köln Gilden Haus. If only they would sell the Bier Direkt, there must be someone in Köln selling Gaffel straight from the barrel?
The Brewery Taps visited this evening:
Fruh am Dom – Am Hof 12-18, 50667, Köln
Gaffel am Dom – Bahnhofsvorplatz 1, 50667, Köln